Persea gratissima

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Persea gratissima in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Persea gratissima-Gaertn.f. (P.americana, Mill.). Avocado. Alligator Pear. Ahuacate. Aguacate. Avocat. Avocato. Abacate. Fig. 2873; Figs. 445, 446, Vol. I. A large tree, commonly with broad crown up to 60 ft.: lvs. oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate to oval or obovate, 4-10 in. long, 2^-6 in. broad, apex acute or shortly acuminate, sometimes almost blunt, the base acute to truncate, frequently rounded, surface glabrous above, usually somewhat glaucous with the venation prominent below; petiole 3/4-2 in. long, canaliculate above: fls. shortly pedicellate, in broad compact panicles at the ends of the young branchlets, about 3/8 in. across, greenish, the calyx-lobes oblong-lanceolate, acute, slightly concave, finely pubescent; fertile stamens 9, in 3 series, each stamen of the inner series bearing just above its base 2 oval flattened orange- colored glands; filaments slender, finely hairy, the anthers oblong-ovate, dehiscing by 4 valves hinged distally, the 2 outer series dehiscing extrorsely, the inner series with the 2 distal valves extrorse and the proximal pan- introrse; staminodes 3, flattened, orange- colored; ovary ovate-elliptic, the style slender, attenuate, finely pubescent: fr. a large fleshy drupe, commonly pyriform, ovate or spherical, 2-8 in. long, green, maroon or purple in color, the epicarp membranous te thick and woody; mesocarp soft, yellow, and buttery; seed 1, large, conical to oblate, inverted, exalbuminous, with 2 thin seed-coats often distinct, reticulated. Certainly indigenous in Mex. and Cent. Amer., extending perhaps to N. S. Amer. The avocado is cultivated commercially in Florida and California, as well as in other parts of tropical America. See Avocado. Several distinct forms are known in cultivation, some of them having been considered botanical varieties by certain botanists. The horticultural varieties grown in the United States are generally grouped into three types, which may be distinguished as follows: Occasional forms will be found which are difficult to classify by the above key. Especially is this true of the Guatemalan type, of which there are several varieties in California with the skin no thicker than in some varieties of the West Indian type, and nearly as smooth. These can usually be distinguished, however, by the character of the seed and its coats. Solano and Blakeman may be mentioned as smooth-skinned examples of this class. Trees of the Guatemalan type usually have darker-colored foliage than those of the West Indian, and ripen their fruit from January to April, while the West Indian ripens from July to November. The Guatemalan type is considerably the hardier of the two. Both are greatly exceeded in hardiness by the Mexican type, which has been known to withstand temperatures of 18" to 20° without serious injury. Chappelow, Ganter, and Harman are varieties of this type well known in California, where they originated. This type is exceedingly common in northern Mexico; the Guatemalan type is found in southern Mexico (whence are derived many of the varieties cultivated in the United States), Guatemala,- and doubtless in other Central American states. The West Indian type is the commonest one in Florida, Cuba, and the West Indies in general, and on the eastern coast of South America. The well-known Florida varieties, Trapp and Pollock, are representatives of it. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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